A Normal Night
by Celestial Chick
Summary: Remus Lupin is planning on having a normal night... until he comes across something he never wanted to see. Even now, the problems never cease! Ch 4 up! R/R!
1. Who is this? An Introduction

Title: A Normal Night

Summary: Remus Lupin was just going to have a normal night, until he came across something he never hoped to see. Lupin's POV for now. This is my first "unhappy" story, as well as the first one I am posting. Constructive criticism is appreciated too, but please don't flame me!

It all started as a normal night for me. I had just started to go looking for some firewood for my fireplace, and then I smelt it.

Smelt it, I smelt that something was wrong. You see, the wolf in me works regardless of the full moon. I did what seemed to make the most sense, I ran toward the smell.

As I neared it, I recognized it as the smell of blood. It was fresh blood, from no more than 20 minutes ago. I thought that perhaps it was animal blood, and after all, many animals do live out here, so some will be killed. As I neared it, I realized that it was clearly human blood.

I saw a wand, and I picked it up. It belonged to a wizard. It smells like it, and it feels like it. I came nearer to the person, and they slowly came into view. I gasped in all horror.

No… This simply cannot be. I was shocked and all I could do for the next five minutes was stare. Just the very thought of it makes me cringe to this day,

The young boy of no more than 15 lying there, unconscious. His glasses were askew. Bruised and battered, bleeding heavily from the stomach. His eyes were dilated, cuts all over. I still did not want to believe this.

As much as I feared the truth, I had to do it. I moved the boys bands from his forehead, to reveal an oh so familiar lightning shaped scar. I gasped.

This… is the famous Harry Potter, lying there, on what seemed to be his deathbed. Immediately, questions filled my mind. Questions such as who, why, when, how? I checked for a pulse, hoping he was still alive.

The pulse is still there, though barely. I cried in half happiness and half fear. The pulse could go away any second. I listened closer though, and he was still breathing. I needed to go get some help, someone, and anyone.

I disaparated to Hogwarts, and I arrived right outside of Dumbledore's office.  I didn't know the password, so I just knocked. He answered the door with a rather puzzled look.

"What are you doing here Remus?" he asked me in a surprised voice. It is rather unusual to come in the dead of the night.

"Come, quick!" was all I could manage to say, still thinking about what I had come across just 15 minutes ago.

Dumbledore followed me back to where he lays there, dying. He gasped and started just as I had done.

 "Holy shit!" was all that he could say. And under the circumstances, those were actually rather wise words. I nodded in agreement.

"Is he… dead?" asked Dumbledore. His eyes were void of any of the usual twinkle they withheld. This must be the most serious I have ever seen him in my whole life.

"No, there is still a pulse" I replied. He looked relieved. "He needs immediate care, or he might not see tomorrow."

"Yes, I will take him with me," replied Dumbledore. "Please come around in the morning, I will have an update for you by then."

I headed into my house and forced myself to go to sleep, praying for Harry.     


	2. A Good Actor Part One

Chapter 2: A Good Actor

Notes: Thanks for reading everyone! I will try to read any of your stories if I haven't already. I really like to read as well. I am enjoying writing; I didn't expect any reviews in the first day. You may have noticed this is a part humor, well some of the humor part comes in here. Keep in mind he was telling it after it happened, at the time it wasn't a laughing matter (well not some of it…) I know it is short, but I prefer to leave them short so that I can get some out quicker.

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I was in the hospital wing, but I certainly was not alone. I was with a lot of people who cared about Harry. Ron and Hermione were there. Most of the Weasleys were there. Hagrid and McGonagall were right there as well. Sirius was also there, at the time in dog form. Everyone in the room already knew about him, but it was too risky for some certain people *cough Snape cough* to find out that he was at the school. Imagine what hell he would raise…

It seemed quite obvious to us all that he was going to die. Just seeing him there pale and lifeless. Pomfrey tried everything that she could think of, but nothing had worked. The child hadn't moved at all since last night, not even when we carried him out of the forest. She let us all know that his pulse has slowed since last night. At the time we didn't think it to be from him sleeping.

Sirius (or Snuffles) whimpered up at me. His godson was dying, and he couldn't do anything about it. He looked up at me with a look that clearly said, "This is all my fault". I whispered so that no one but a dog could hear "its not your fault Sirius" and massaged the back of his neck. He laid down at my feet in that position dogs often go into when they are in trouble. He tried hard not to let tears fall, but he miserably failed at it.

Ron and Hermione as well as the rest of the kids were all crying. Even the extremely insensitive Weasley twins had silent tears streaming down their cheeks. It damn well could have been the only time those two have cried in their lives since they were babies. Ginny, being as sensitive as she is, stood there, staring in horror. I as well as anyone else in the room knew how much she likes him. I have probably even helped Sirius torture Harry with it a few times. (Out of school, of course, I could have been fired if I did it whilst I was teaching)

Hagrid and McGonagall were gawking at what they were looking at. To them, as well as all the rest of us adults, he was something besides a friend. He was the boy who lived. Harry was responsible for the downfall of Voldemort some 15 years ago. It was odd to see them like this, but after all Hagrid was pretty close to Harry. McGonagall, well this just proves that there must be some sort of heart even under the sternest exterior shell.

It seemed as though some of them had lost all hope and were saying goodbyes to him. I hadn't lost my hope yet, because he had lived through some near miraculous things. Whatever attacked him out there that night was obviously something powerful, if it wasn't Voldemort himself. Even if it was he, Harry had survived some four attacks from him, including one when he was a baby. I wouldn't allow myself to think that the fifth would be the last. 

A few hours passed, and not much had happened. Dumbledore came in to tell us that they had sent some aurors out to investigate what had happened, which I took as a bad sign as well as Sirius. The reason this is bad is because when Harry wakes, he could just TELL us what happened out there. Sirius had obviously been thinking the way that I do (for a change) because he jumped up, looked at me, and let out a very distinct low growl.

"I really liked him, you know. Harry is dying, and he will never get a chance to hear this. All of those times when I have scolded him or told on him, they were because I really do care about him. He is more than just a friend or a brother to me, I love him!" Hermione wailed. We were all shocked by what she just said, but it was good that she said it.

I was the first to notice it. Harry stirred, and peeped his eyes open. Sirius then noticed it too. We were happy by this, although we didn't know he was ok. Ron however, sensed this, and started sniggering. Harry rolled his eyes at Hermione, causing Sirius to snort. He tried to make it sound like a sneeze, but failed miserably for the second time that day.

"What dare I ask is so funny?" snapped Hermione, who was appalled by both Ron and Sirius's behavior. "Harry is dying, and you are laughing at what I have to say! Uggh! Men…" Instead of one of them saying what was so funny, Harry spoke up for them. At first what he said made no sense to us, we thought he was a little crazy or something.

"Damn, there goes 10 sickles," said Harry. Hermione jumped, and she wasn't the only one. Everyone else who hadn't already noticed that he was awake jumped too. Then they looked at him like he was a nutter.  Sirius howled in a way that I could tell was dog laughter. Obviously he seemed to know exactly what Harry was saying. McGonagall muttered something about language, and then asked Harry "What the hell are you talking about?" Ron false sneezed something that sounded oddly like "hypocrite" Sirius snorted yet again.

"You see, I bet, er, someone that Hermione fancied Ron…" started Harry, causing Ron to blush a brilliant color of magenta.  Hermione froze in horror about the fact that he had been awake to hear it. I had a feeling she said it out of one of those fear type things. She just ran out of the room as fast as she could, turning redder with every step that she took. Sirius made sure no one was looking who didn't know, then turned into human form."

"Ah never mind that kiddo," said Sirius, trying to help him shrug it off. "How long have you been awake?" Harry explained he had heard Dumbledore come in, and he had been awake enough to hear Hermione start. Sirius seemed green with envy that he was able to pull that one off. It really didn't surprise me that he was able to do that; after all, James was an excellent actor.        He seemed to be in a good mood for just near dying, padfoot seemed to have noticed this and was curious about this.

"How are you feeling Harry?" asked Sirius in his best concerned parent voice. It wasn't that good, if it wasn't such a serious moment, I would have probably made fun of him for it. "Maybe you should go back to sleep Harry, you don't look too good." He was right; he looked the same he did that night, only he was conscious. Harry was still beaten up and cut, and pale.

"I feel fine Sirius, I want to get out of here, I hate hospitals," stated Harry as convincingly as possible, and it was pretty good. Sirius looked at Pomfrey, who lifted a finger to protest, but Sirius quickly started out with his trust speech that was so good you would think he prepared it if you didn't know him well enough to know that Sirius has never prepared for anything in his life.

"If the boy says he is fine, he is fine," said Sirius sternly. "You have to trust people. Now, let him go. Just clean him up a bit, and let him go on his way. Of course, he will report to you regularly for as long as you see fit. Right Harry?" asked Sirius. Harry nodded eagerly. I am probably the only one who saw him stifle a cough as Pomfrey went to get her wand. 

I looked at him skeptically, and he held his finger up to his lip telling me not to say anything. I really didn't think it was a good idea for him to go yet because I could tell he is not well. But I thought about it a moment, and it was his choice, so I didn't say anything. He shot me a grateful look, and I shot him a "yeah-yeah" look right back. The marauder in me is still not totally gone.

Pomfrey healed all the cuts he had, except for the big gash in his stomach. She put a wrap around it because it was too big to heal magically. I hope that he doesn't have any more scars from this one, those were some pretty big cuts. I wonder how much blood he lost. Then she lectured him about coming right back if anything was wrong, and he nodded in silent agreement. He stifled another cough, then rubbed his ribcage. I shot him a malicious glance, and he shot it back. He really is just like his father…

TBC… Please R/R!


	3. A Good Actor Part Two

Chapter 3: A Good Actor Part 2

Notes: New chapter! Hopefully, more people will read this. Thanks for the reviews!  I know the summary sucks and stuff, so if anyone can think of a better one tell me. This switches to Sirius's point of view for a while, then back to Remus's. This transition is pretty clear, but I will mark it anyways…  As a warning there is a bit of language and also some blood involved, but not above PG-13 as its not graphically described. Enjoy!

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I had been keeping a close eye on Harry all day. He insisted that he was fine, so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He swore to us he would say if anything was wrong, but he is stubborn as a mule so I honestly do not know if he will. No one in classes has any idea what happened, all they noticed was that he was a little pale; he said he didn't get sleep. His wrap around his stomach was well hidden, so that no one could see the horrors underneath.

He was still trying really hard not to cough, stifling it under his breath. He kept rubbing his ribcage like he was in pain. Probably from coughing… And none of his friends noticed. Hermione would have, but she wasn't there, she was avoiding them. I decided that perhaps I should talk to her because hiding from any of your fears isn't a good way to handle things. Trust me when I say I learned that the hard way as a child.

"Hullo there Hermione!" I said cheerfully. She looked up, I could tell by the redness in her eyes that she had been crying. She slammed her head down on the table… then gave me a finger. This didn't faze me because Lily had done the same thing time after time to me, but honestly, I swear, sometimes I don't understand why women get so emotional over things. I honestly don't see anything wrong with admitting feelings. "Don't you want to talk?"

She just sat there, and didn't even look up. I started to walk away, figuring that now wasn't the time. Then she looked up at me and said, "Hello Professor Lupin. Yeah, there really isn't anything you can do, but yeah, lets talk."  I hate it when people say there is nothing I can do. It comes up most when I speak of my, er, condition. Hmm, what's the best approach to take on this one? I think I will wait until she talks. Don't push people into things; it only makes them less willing to talk about it. That's how Harry is according to Sirius.

"I am such an idiot, he probably hates me. Either that or he thinks that I am crazy. How am I supposed to face him again?" she asked. This is that fear thing, she was afraid that he would hate her. Before, she was afraid of him dying, so she said it. The only way she will be rid of fear is if she confronts him. Plus I know Harry, and he wouldn't be mad at her, he was looking for her. Yes, this is exactly what I should tell her.

"What you said, is out of fear," I started, and she looked up at me like I was crazy. "You said this because you were afraid to lose him. But you are still scared. You are scared of someone who you love. I know he cares about you to, Hermione. If you never talk to him, he will never know. When I was a kid, people didn't talk to me, out of fear. So I made sure no one else knew, out of fear they wouldn't like me. Don't fall into the fear trap."

She thought about it for a few minutes, she seemed to be examining every word. Then she smiled and said, "Your right, this is stupid. I know he won't hate me, maybe be a bit shocked, but never hate me. So what exactly am I afraid of? I am going to go over there and talk to him." Hermione wiped her eyes off, and walked back over to her usual table and sat down next to Harry. He didn't seem to have any objections, so it meant things were fine. It's amazing how easy some problems are to solve, and how difficult other ones are.

I went to bed pretty early that night, and had a nice dreamless sleep. It was probably the first in a while. I asked Sirius where Harry was; he was in the hospital wing again. Damn it! Sirius was angry at the mention of this, and then he went into why he was in there again.

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I went to the bathroom around 11:30 last night. I was on my way out, and I saw Harry, he didn't look so good. If you didn't know better, you would say that he was on drugs or something. He was looking like he was about ready to pass out, so I put my hand on his shoulder, and started to guide him up the stairs. It took him about a minute to realize someone was there.

"Ah! Oh, hello Sirius," he said, putting on what looking back on it was clearly an act. He suddenly tried to act like he was fine. Probably a little too soon, it was a little fake, so I wasn't just gonna let it go. After all, I am his godfather; he is my responsibility to look after. I know he hates being asked if he is ok, but it was something that I had to ask.

"Ya all right there kiddo?" I asked him in that concerned voice. Yes, I am aware that it sucks, Moony suggests that I practice or something. I think that might not be a bad idea. If this keeps up the way it has been, I will have to use that voice a lot. He gave me that look that told me what he was gonna say. It was gonna be that I swear I am fine speech.

"I swear Sirius, I am fine!" protested Harry. I smiled weekly, thinking that I was dead on. "Honestly, I wish people would stop worrying about me, it is starting to get on my nerves! I was just coming back from the bathroom. Now, I am going to bed, please, stop worrying about me!" Well if he says so. Wait a minute, I was just in the bathroom, and he wasn't there. And he couldn't have left before I got in there because he was only about 10 feet from the bathroom. No one can walk that slowly, not even a turtle.

"Ok, if you're sure. Goodnight Harry." I decided that that was the best way to handle things, let him have his way. Of course, I wasn't just going to walk away from it, I propped myself against the corner of the wall where he couldn't see, and I watched him. He slumped down against the wall and sat there for a while. I knew he wouldn't hide anything when no one was there, so I just continued to watch him for any signs of something wrong.

He started coughing, and then he started really hard. It was almost like he was choking on something. He whimpered in pain and grabbed at his stomach. I didn't know what was happening until it was over. He threw up, but not like when you are sick. Along with it, he coughed up blood. God dammit! Ok, I may not be like Pomfrey or anything but I know that that is serious. 

"I swear Sirius, I'm fine!" I said in a half mock half anger way. He obviously knew he wasn't ok, yet he let us all believe it. There are times for being a good actor, but not when it is this serious. I was so mad, but at the moment, yelling wasn't the way to handle it. I examined him closely, he seemed fine on the outside, yet he was still coughing blood up violently. Well, that means… oh fuck. He is bleeding internally, otherwise he wouldn't be coughing up blood.

"Sirius, I'm (cough) sorry… Hospital wing.." he said still coughing up blood. I handed him a handkerchief so he didn't get it all over the place. I led him down to the hospital wing as fast as possible. I think Pomfrey was a bit agitated when I woke her, but when she saw him, she didn't say anything, just whisked him into her office. She had me come with her.

Now it was her turn to mock… "If the child says he's fine, he's fine… Poppycock!  After near death, he can't be fine in a day, but no…" I heard her drone on endlessly about it. I just listened and nodded because she was right. He is just so easy to trust though. She talked all the way through her examination of him, which took a good fifteen minutes.

"It is a good thing you brought him back. He was bleeding internally. He seems to actually be getting better though. I need to keep him tonight. I should be able to release in a day or two. I put a spell on him that fixed the apparent hole in the stomach." She then sent him off to bed, and sent me out of the room. He is still in there, sleeping.

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"So, that is why he is in the hospital," finished Sirius. By that point I was entirely grossed out by the thought of Harry coughing up blood. When I overcame that, I was angry that he hadn't told the truth in the first place. I actually took a leaf out of Sirius's book, and did the impulsive. I barged right in there, ready to yell at him. Uggh, the nerve. Sirius, who was trying to bring me to reason, was actually chasing me, instead of the usual.

"Remus, wait…" started Sirius, but I ignored him. "You can't go in there like Bruce Lee with your fists flying… Moony. Stop. Now." I explained to him that I wasn't going in with my fists flying, just my mouth flapping. He had wanted to do the same thing last night, so he didn't have any objection. I walked in and totally ignored Pomfrey's "he needs rest" protests.

"Harry James Potter!" I bellowed, causing him and everyone else in the room to jump. Never thought I would be the one to do that…

"Look, professor, I…" started Harry, but I cut him short. "What were you thinking? That was dangerous, you nearly died, AGAIN." I could have probably gone on for hours about how irresponsible that was, but there was an interruption. Dumbledore walked in with what seemed to be a report in his hand, he looked very serious again.

"We have found out who caused this damage to Harry.." he started, looking like we had won the battle but lost the war. "Who is it?" that obviously came from Sirius. The man has no patience what so ever. (Or a brain for that matter, but we can get into that at a later date) He took a bit breath and told us. We were in for the shock of our lives.

TBC! Please R/R. The next chapter goes into a new concept.


	4. Maurauding, Memories, and Merlot

Chapter 4: Marauding, Memories and Merlot 

Notes: Thanks for reading. I am trying to get these out as fast as possible but still be up to my usual quality of work. Still, if anyone can think of a good summary for this thing it would be most appreciated. Remus never does get a break, now does he? This chapter proves it. Well, the troubles with Harry may be over, but now we move onto a different type of trouble. As a note the new character doesn't play a big role outside of the next 2 chapters, so don't flame me about Mary Sue…

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"The auror's reports came back, and they showed… nothing," explained Dumbledore. This seemed rather confusing, so I assumed that there was more. Sirius opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but I jabbed him in the ribs. What ever it was, knowing him, it was stupid. He jabbed me right back, although I didn't stomach it as well, and started wheezing. Harry laughed at this, and once we were done beating each other up, Dumbledore continued.

"We got word of one of the higher ranking aurors in, in hope that she would be able to find something out…" she? I haven't known any female aurors since… no can't be. "Candida Gray figured out exactly who. Sure enough, it is traceable to Voldemort. Seems he is keeping a new pet in the forbidden forest…" I didn't even hear the rest of the conversation because I was worried for Sirius's sake.

His face went gaunt at the very mention of the name. You could see that hate in his eyes. "Down boy…" I whispered to him like he was in dog form. His fists clenched tightly, but he didn't say anything. Dumbledore looked slightly disturbed by this reaction, like there was more. "Spit it out Albus," hissed Sirius in a cool tone.

"I was afraid of this reaction. Unfortunately, you haven't overcome your, er, anger…" Harry and I both had to hold him back. Even though Harry had no idea what was wrong, he knew it would get ugly if Sirius got loose. "Because you guys have to go vanquish the thing. You, Remus, Severus, and Candida. She will be residing at Hogwarts for the time necessary. Good day to you all."

I knew right there that Sirius wasn't gonna take this one good. He never does deal with things like every one else; I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid. Pomfrey came walking in wearing a smile, for once in her life. The mere sight of this disturbed my train of thought, as well as Sirius's anger. "Yo, wha's shakin Poppy?" Leave it to Padfoot…

"Harry will be able to leave whenever he is ready. He should be fine; the healing potions from last night should just about totally heal him. The only exception to this is that gash in the stomach. It is healed on the inside, so there won't be any blood. If he coughs, it will be dry, nothing to worry about. Now, I am going to leave him to you,"

Harry darted out of his bed, threw on robes, and tried to make a run for it. "Not so fast kiddo…" I said in my stern voice, which may not be Academy Award winning, but it is definitely an improvement on Sirius. Harry propped himself on the bed, trying to give us a puppy dog look. It didn't work because _that_ was something Sirius _could_ do, and Harry's attempts looked pathetic compared to him.

"Now listen up. If anything is wrong or something, tell us. We need to know. Why didn't you just stay there? It was a near miraculous recovery, and you really were pushing your luck there. Now I want a promise that when there is a problem, you will tell us." Sirius and I were switching back and forth between these lines. Harry nodded in full understanding. When we gave him the ok, he headed down to breakfast to find his friends.

"Hey Padfoot, wanna go to Hogsmeade today? We could do some Christmas shopping and get it out of the way… Plus there are the Quidditch stores!" I was trying to get his mind off of that evil Candida, and I had a feeling that Quidditch and shopping were two of the best ways to distract a rather simple minded fellow such as Sirius. 

"No thanks, you go ahead Moony. I have some, er, things I need to do today." Damn, I have obviously underestimated the mind of him. I just shrugged, because even if he wasn't going to go, I still would. I do need to get some things. Dumbledore talked to us, and we are going to be staying here because the forest is not a safe place to be living at the moment…

I got back from Hogsmeade a few hours later. I bought a few things to make my stay here a bit more enjoyable. I can hear Sirius now… "Books, right? You bought books. For you its two things, books and chocolate, and you never go anywhere without either." The sad thing is, he is right. Speaking of Padfoot, I think I will go visit him.

"Sirius, can I come in?" I asked as I knocked on the portrait that leads to his guest room. Wow, there is a room here that we actually didn't find in our marauding days. Dumbledore assigned us our rooms, and we were shocked to find out that there are rooms that our map doesn't show. It took a while for Sirius to realize who it was, then answered.

"Yesh Moony, come in," he answered in a rather slurred voice. This kind of worried me. I opened the door to find Sirius's room in total ruins. There were bottles of Merlot everywhere on the floor. So then I turned to Sirius… oh good god. It was obvious he had been drinking, a lot. His eyes were all glazed over and he was stumbling about like an idiot bumping things. He had in his hand what must have been his 5th bottle.

"Sirius Orion Black!" I shouted. If you haven't noticed by now, I am rather into using middle names. They work rather well to get the message across.  "What have you done to yourself?" Uggh. I knew he was gonna do something stupid, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!  So this was his way of dealing with things.      "What ish it Moony? Thish ish a total invashion of privashy…" Sirius babbled on like an idiot. As if he didn't know why I was angry. He of all people should know why alcohol is a bad idea. Or, maybe he was too drunk to realize. He began to take a long swig, until I pulled the bottle away from his face, causing him to spit red Merlot all over the floor.

"I think you have had enough Sirius," I said firmly. I had to push him back as I poured the remainder of the stuff down the drain. I made him sit down as I made some coffee. That was what he did for Candida; it seemed to cure her rather fast. He began to sip it silently for a while, and I forced him to drink it all. Once I was sure he was sober enough to comprehend what I was saying, I began to talk to him.

"Sirius, you should know, of all people, this isn't the way to solve your problems, and it only makes it worse. This is about Candida, isn't it?" I asked him, and he just looked down at the floor and nodded, too embarrassed to say anything. After all, the whole reason he hates her is because she is an alcoholic. So why was he doing this?

"Now, you are letting yourself fall into the exact same trap that she did years ago. You know that it isn't a good idea, and you also know the consequences, so why did you do it?" Sirius just shrugged. Then he began to say that is was just so calming, and it was just a way to take it off of his mind. Of course, that's what she said too.

"During our marauding years, she was just so nice. It really just brings back old memories of when we were younger, good and bad." The coffee improved his speech, and to think it was invented by muggles. "I think I was thinking a bit too much of the bad. So I grabbed some Merlot and started at it. Then it came to another bottle, and another..."

"You gonna be alright?" I asked him unsurely.  He nodded yes, so I left and went to bed early, because tomorrow will be an early day.


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